[MOUNT TIMPANOGOS VIEW FROM ALTA] [DEVIL'S CASTLE - ALTA]

Utah alpine skiing information and tips... focused on Alta and Snowbird

last updated by Steve Corbató (corbato __AT__ alumni.rice.edu) at: Sun Jan 27 19:22:09 MST 2008

I've updated this page for ski visitors to Salt Lake City during the 2007-08 season. This page is originally derived from a Web site designed for a ski trip that we organized during the Joint Techs workshop in Salt Lake City in February 2005.

During most of ski season, Utah is on Mountain Standard Time (MST = GMT-7h) - two hours behind New York and one hour ahead of California. Utah does observe Daylight Savings Time.

2007-08 season notes

Pointers to more information...

Topics

Daily updates

Ski rental and equipment sales locations

Obviously, the most expedient, but clearly not the least expensive, way to rent skis is just to patronize the ski shops at the base of all the resorts. For a one or two day stay, this may be the easiest thing to do.

Major northern Utah ski areas - general information

Other sources for ski information

Restaurant recommendations

Some Utah liquor law insights

Housing recommendations

Transportation

Related information for visitors

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[Snowbird - View of Mount Superior from Snowbird] [Snowbird - View from Hidden Peak]

Some additional details

(originally written for 2005 ski day at Alta)

  1. Typical conditions and preparedness
  2. Ski rental tips
  3. Discount ski lift ticket options
  4. Resort destinations
  5. Lesson information
  6. Options for meeting for lunch
  7. Ski area descriptions and lift/terrain recommendations

  1. Typical conditions and preparedness

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  2. Equipment rentals (also available on-site at the resorts - especially in beginner lesson packages)

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  3. Discount ski lift ticket options

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  4. Resort destinations

    [ALTA DIRECTIONS]

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  5. Lesson information

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  6. Lunch options

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  7. Ski area descriptions and lift/terrain recommendations

    Introduction to Alta

    As background, I've skied Alta almost 100 times over the last 16 years and over 30 times last year. I'm not an expert skier, and there are many challenging black runs at Alta that I haven't skied and probably never will...

    I think the best word that describes Alta is throwback. It was one of the first ski resorts in the U.S. -- built on top of an old silver mining town -- before World War II and the subsequent ski boom kicked off by veterans of the Army's 10th Mountain Division. The area, which remains under private and largely local ownership, is steadfastly oriented towards skiing. In many ways, Alta shuns the ambiance factors that have crept into the other top areas around the country. Of course, Alta has restaurants, bars, hotels, and ski shops, but all are separately owned. So the real focus of the resort remains on skiing and teaching. The resort draws from a strong, loyal base - both locally and globally - that comes back year after year. For example, it's not unheard of to meet a Nobel Laureate in the lunch line. In this context, Alta's continued refusal to acknowledge the inevitable demographic reality of snowboarding is not that surprising.

    The Alta resort actually is divided into two areas by a high north-south ridgeline. These two regions are connected at the top by a bidirectional pass/traverse (between the tops of the Sugarloaf and Collins lifts) and at the bottom by a rope tow across the flats. We'll park at Albion Base, which serves the higher/eastern area, which has terrain suitable for beginners through experts. The western area accessed from Wildcat Base, which we'll pass on the drive up, is geared towards intermediate skiers and above.

    From Albion, you can reach the Sunnyside (triple), Cecret (double), Supreme (triple), and Sugarloaf (quad) lifts; the older Albion lift shown on the map at the base usually isn't operated now. The Wildcat side is served by the new Collins (quad) and the shorter Wildcat lifts (double). If you've skied Alta before this year, you'll notice that the upgraded Collins lift, which is the second detachable quad at Alta, has replaced both the shorter lift on the lower part of the mountain as well as the higher Germania lift. As a result, it's now possible to go from the bottom to the top on the Collins side in about seven minutes.

    I've found the relative difficulty of skiing any particular run at Alta varies greatly with the amount of fresh powder and the age of the underlying base. After a deep powder dump, some black runs can feel like blues. Due to an unusual predominant storm track from the southwest, Alta has not had as many good powder days this year. While the base is very deep, it is somewhat hardened due to a relative lack of snow in late January. However, there's a line commonly heard on the lifts at Alta that probably best sums up the current state of the snow: "A bad day at Alta is far better than a good day skiing in the East."

    In all likelihood, everyone's first ride of the day will be up the Sunnyside lift from Albion Base. From there, our paths will diverge.

    Beginners

    Most of the green runs at Alta are accessed from the Sunnyside and the nearby Cecret lifts. The first timers will likely start out on Crooked Mile and Patsey Marley -- long touring runs to the left of Sunnyside. Eventually, they'll move up to the green runs accessed from the shorter Cecret (pronounced "secret") lift and then consider the blue runs reached from both the Supreme and Sugarloaf lifts.

    Intermediate terrain

    After taking the Sunnyside lift, intermediate skiers might consider first going up the Sugarloaf lift to the right (this saves having to take Cecret to reach Supreme). Taking Devil's Elbow down from the top or considering the short Sugar Bowl shot (an easier black unless heavily moguled) will yield several options on the lower part of this area (Razor Back, Roller Coaster). A black run off Sugarloaf that advanced intermediates might consider is Extrovert, which follows the lower part of the Sugarloaf lift down the hill. From Sugarloaf, you can access both the Supreme lift (by taking Devil's Elbow down and following the Supreme Access signs) or the Collins lift on the other side of the mountain (by sliding down to the gap at Germania Pass).

    From the Supreme lift, there are several good blue runs - Rock & Roll, 3 Bears, and Big Dipper - that can be accessed by following the cat track to the right of the lift. To view the extensive tree damage caused by a massive in-bounds avalanche on a day when the resort was closed last month, I'd recommend at least one shot down Rock & Roll.

    On the other side of the resort served by the Collins and Wildcat lifts, intermediate skiers can opt for the direct Main Street, Mambo, and the lower part of the Ballroom bowl. The lower part of the Collins main drag can get congested at times - especially the Corkscrew section, and there are easier options if one continues down the mountain.

    Advanced areas

    The upper reaches of Alta served by the Supreme, Sugarloaf, and Collins lifts have a number of black runs and areas, some of which require hiking and/or traversing to access. For starters, I'd recommend the following black runs: Challenger and #9 Express off Supreme, Extrovert and Glory Hole off Sugarloaf, and Spring Valley and Sunspot off Collins. Particularly, on a sunny day, the high, steep bowl traversed by Sunspot can be a lot of fun. Many advanced/expert skiers successively work their way out the High Traverse off the Collins lift towards Alf's High Rustler - the steepest, long run at Alta.

    Two off-the-beaten path areas that I would recommend are Catherine's Area (to the left of the Supreme lift) and Devil's Castle (to the left of the Sugarloaf lift). Catherine's provides an in-bounds (i.e., patrolled and avalanche controlled), near-backcountry experience in a wooded canyon near Catherine's Pass (leading to Big Cottonwood Canyon). It requires hiking about 50-100' vertical feet and then traversing for 1,000-2,000 yards depending on the shot selected. If you're in good shape and want to try a long, steep bowl, I'd recommend the extended hike and traverse to Devil's Castle, which is open ~50% of the time on average. Keep in mind that access to both the Catherine's and Devil's Castle areas closes at 3p.

    The older Wildcat lift is good for accessing some nice black slots on the lower part of the mountain and is usually uncrowded.

    Scenery at Alta

    Three recommendations for taking in views at Alta include:

    Snowbird

    As disclosure, I've skied Snowbird about 10% as many times as Alta.

    While Snowbird has more of a destination resort feel than Alta, it can provide some extremely challenging skiing - most of which can be directly accessed from a lift. If you pay extra, you can access the tram which goes directly to the top of Hidden Peak. I'd generally only recommend this option for advanced and expert skiers. The others can work their way up to the top (e.g., the large bowl served by the Little Cloud lift and the steep Peruvian Cirque for experts) via the lifts over the course of the day. Intermediate skiers usually opt for runs off the Mid-Gad, Gad-2, and Gadzoom lifts on the western part of the mountain. On the other side of the ridge line (reached from the tram, the Little Cloud lift, or Alta with a dual-area pass), Snowbird recently opened the Mineral Basin area, which has some nice, sun-exposed bowls. Note that the runs at Snowbird drain into four base areas, each of which is served by frequent shuttle bus stops.

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All information above is subject to change. YMMV! Please e-mail me with any errors or outdated details.

Steve Corbató (corbato __AT__ alumni.rice.edu)

hits since 12 March 2006